Contest winner shares $25,000 diamond with her sister

Thursday

Sisters Erika and Jamie Alongi have always been very close. They are even closer now ...

Sisters Erika and Jamie Alongi have always been very close.

They were close as the only two children in the Alongi family.

They were close as they went through Braintree High School, Erika graduating in 1997 and Jamie in 2001.

They are even closer now as they both look toward engagement and marriage.

Erika got engaged this weekend. Jamie expects to become engaged soon.

In the middle of October, their mother Tricia Kaminski heard about a contest for a $25,000 diamond sponsored by E. B. Horn Jewelers.

She signed her daughters up online.

A thousand people had the same idea.

Two hundred two-person teams were chosen.

First Erika got an email that she and her fiancé Matt Toland, also a Braintree High graduate, were selected.

Then, a few days later her sister Jamie and her fiancé Dan Cooper, also a Braintree High graduate, were also chosen. Jamie and Dan live in Weymouth.

The two couples met with the 198 other teams at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston on Saturday, Nov. 10.

They were given a list of seven clues which would take them all over the hub. They had to find six of the destinations and indicate they were contestants at the site. They could only use public transportation.

Erika and Jamie and their fiancés began their hunts separately communicating by cell phone.

Separately they followed the clues to a home plate plaque beside a statue of Cy Young at Huntington Grounds.

“I did a cheer on the home plate. This was to notify the person from Horn Jewelers that you were there. Then they stamped your piece of paper, “ Erika said.

The clues led contestants to Castle Island, Suffolk Downs, Our Lady of Victories Church, the Leif Erikson statue, the Sam Adams Brewery and the Brattle Book Shop.

The couples had to find five destinations.

Then they returned to Christopher Columbus Park where they were given a final clue which led them to the Green Dragon Tavern in Faneuil Hall.

Ten couples make the cut. Erika and Matt arrived first. Jamie and Dan were close behind.

Here the drama heightened.

A huge jewelry box awaited them. Inside were ten small boxes. Each contained a cubic zirconia. Inside one zirconia was a hidden inscription which indicated the recipient won the $25,000 diamond.

The ten couples in the contest were lined up with their zirconias. A jeweler inspected the ten stones and, after a few fake outs, pointed to Erika and Matt.

“I was in shock,” Erika said.

The jeweler gave the couple the $25,000 diamond. A bodyguard provided by E.B. Horn drove them home to Braintree.

“Jamie was so happy for me,” Erika said.

That night Erika started thinking as she looked at the huge sparkler.

“I don’t need a diamond this big,” she said to herself.

The next day, she and Matt went back to E.B. Horn’s and asked if they could have two $12,500 diamonds, one for herself and one for her sister.

The jeweler agreed.

“Dan and I were so excited,” Jamie said.

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